Couchsurfing

The first stop on my journey through the UK was Cardiff, the capital city of Wales where I met with veteran couchsurfer Helene Roberts.

Meeting Helene was actually not planned ahead. Prior to my departure, there were some problems with another host I had planned to stay with and unfortunately I was unable to secure a stay or an interview. However, to my delight, Helene came to my rescue.

Helene was the best first interaction with a couchsurfer that I could have imagined. Messaging her last minute as I arrived in Cardiff, I was pleasantly surprised to find that she replied within a matter of minutes, and was excited to meet up.

We met at a Vermouth Bar in central Cardiff called Vermut where we would stay for the next hour, chatting as if we were old friends.

I asked Helene about  couchsurfing, and she shared some experiences of trips she had made, and of people she had met along the way as a surfer.

"I joined Couchsurfing back in 2006 in Shanghai. My friend Rich had introduced me to it, but I didn't actually use it until I was in New Zealand in 2007."

On her motivation for joining, Helene said it was the “nomadic aspect” of the concept that first excited her, in fact so much so that she thought it was too good to be true. However, that is not to say that she wasn't nervous her first time staying with a host.

"I was really, really nervous. So nervous that the guy I stayed with in Wellington probably thought I was a bit strange. Back then there were different categories that you could give surfers: very positive, positive, neutral, negative and very negative. I just remember he had given me a ‘positive’, not a ‘very positive’. I was just so nervous, like I was at a job interview!" When I asked Helene about whether she preferred hosting or surfing, she told me that they were both similar in the sense that they both made her nervous but excited as well. However, of the two, hosting was harder.  “I find the hosting more stressful because you want to give them the best experience that you can. You want to make sure that you can help."

She also touched on the importance of your relationship with the city you are hosting in. "When I was living in Bristol and hosting there, because I was close to Bath where I grew up, I would take the people I was hosting there. I was so proud to show off Bath… celebrating it and seeing it through someone else's eyes."

Helene also told me about her adventures as a surfer. "It’s the surrendering. Somebody else can just show you around and you can see the city through their eyes."

One thing she does before she arrives in a new place is get to know the area she is visiting. Part of her 'routine' is to learn to be able to navigate the area that she will be staying in so as to make it easier for her to know where she is going. Before she arrives at a host's place, she will also grab a small gift to show her appreciation.

Highlight: Helene's Moroccan Man

Highlight: Old School Meets New Cool

My next stop was Edinburgh, a city that I had heard so much about from books and films growing up, but one that I had never had the pleasure to experience.

My contact was Alexander Groß, who was actually the one who started the conversation between us on the app. He too was happy to help me, and offered to show me his set up as a host.

We met up outside his building and he hugged me as if we were close friends. His room was part of a larger flat and consisted of a single bed, couch, and large desk near a window.

Alexander is from Hamburg in Germany and is in Edinburgh on an exchange programme. He spoke to me about what it was like for him to join Couchsurfing and why he loved the idea.

"It was the cheapest way for traveling so I was saving money. But it's not just about that. Meeting cool people and having experiences really makes it … great. But you can use couchsurfing not just for staying with someone; you can also use hangouts. So if you just want to meet up with someone in the area and explore you can do that."

But Alexander is predominantly a surfer, so he spoke to me about what it is like when you are travelling.

"I think it's a typical backpacker lifestyle without having to be in a hostel. Instead of a dorm, you are staying with the family or the person and you get to learn from each other and be a part of the lives of the locals."

One of his fondest memories was about a trip he took to South Africa and about the host that he met there.

"She showed me all these places that we went to, such as museums and what not. There was also this national park about a 30 minutes drive from where we were and she drove me all the way there and it was amazing. She was also cooking all the time and we talked about everything; it was just great."

Highlight: Saviour of London

My final destination was London, a city I was already familiar with.

Marius Dragulin was the first member of Couchsurfing who I contacted when I began this experiment. We had planned to meet up before I went to Cardiff and Edinburgh, but we decided to wait until I had returned and our schedules could better align.

I met with Marius at a small bar and cafe near Hoxton Overground Station.

Ordering drinks and sitting outside in the garden space behind the building, we fell into a conversation about Marius's vast experience of travelling when he was growing up. I felt as at ease with him as with a close friend and the stories he told had me captivated.

"It was 2012. I joined just before going to France because some of my friends were on it and it was this cool way of travelling for free. The first time I used it, I was in Romania, but I used it extensively in France in 2013 when I travelled a lot."

He was initially drawn to the app because couchsurfing could save him money.

"As a poor sort of early career person, I joined because I could go to places for free and stay there."

But that wasn't the only motivation for him to join the community. Marius said he was a bit introverted and that being a part of the community allowed him to open up more to people and speak to those who he wouldn't normally speak to.

"I don't really start conversations with people on the street, so it was a good way to meet people and I met a lot of locals."

Marius does both hosting and surfing, and said that he prefers visitors to be quite independent. 

"I had people who fully relied on me to show them around for the whole day, which I didn't like. I found that the best approach for me was to host couples because with them, they are together and they don't get bored when I am busy. It was a good balance."

With surfing, he said he didn't mind being left to make his way around, but that he still liked to interact with those hosting him.

"I am pretty independent and I can find places on my own, but I also know that the hosts want to show me some stuff. Finding that balance between independent and shared time is important and I think from the profile you can tell how the people are. I have only ever had good experiences."

"Couchsurfing broadened my horizons. Getting into very intimate moments of someones life, it humbles you in a way because it's in their house, on their turf, and you see this other side of people that you wouldn't normally see. It makes you feel more human."

Highlight: A French Family Feast